Why Doctrinal Preaching
Declines
By: Arthur W.
Pink
During the last
two or three generations the pulpit has given less and
less prominence to doctrinal preaching, until today,
with very rare exceptions, it has no place at all. In
some quarters the cry from the pew was, We want living
experience and not dry doctrine; in others, We need
practical sermons and not metaphysical dogmas; and yet
others, Give us Christ and not theology. Sad to say,
such senseless cries were generally heeded: `senseless'
we say, for there is no other safe way of testing
experience, as there is no foundation for practicals to
be built upon, if they be divorced from Scriptural
doctrine; while Christ cannot be known unless he be
preached (I Cor. 1:23), and he certainly cannot be
`preached' if doctrine is shelved. Various reasons may
be given for the lamentable failure of the pulpit, chief
among them being laziness, desire for popularity,
superficial and lop-sided`evangelism', love of the
sensational.
LAZINESS. It is a
far more exacting task, one which calls for much closer
confinement in the study, to prepare a series of sermons
on say the doctrine of justification, than it does to
make addresses on prayer, missions, or personal-work. It
demands a far wider acquaintance with the Scripture, a
more extensive perusal of the older writers. But this
was too exacting for most of the ministers, and so they
chose the line of least resistance and followed an
easier course. It is because of his proneness to this
weakness that the minister is particularly exhorted,
`Give attendance to reading... take heed unto thyself
and unto the doctrine: continue in them' (I Tim.
4:13,16); and again, `Study to show thyself approved
unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed' (2
Tim. 2:15).
DESIRE FOR
POPULARITY. It is natural that the preacher should wish
to please his hearers, but it is spiritual for him to
desire and aim at the approbation of God. Nor can any
man serve two masters. As the apostle expressly
declared, `For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the
servant of Christ' (Gal. 1:10): solemn words are those!
How they condemn them whose chief aim is to preach to
crowded churches. Yet what grace it requires to swim
against the tide of public opinion, and preach that
which is unacceptable to the natural man. But on the
other hand, how fearful will be the doom of those who,
from a determination to curry favour with men,
deliberately withheld those portions of the truth most
needed by their hearers. `Ye shall not add unto the word
which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought
from it' (Deut. 4:2). O to be able to say with Paul, `I
kept back nothing that was profitable unto you...I am
pure from the blood of all' (Acts 20:20,26).
A
SUPERFICIAL AND LOP-SIDED ‘EVANGELISM’. Many of the
pulpiteers of the past fifty years acted as though the
first and last object of their calling was the salvation
of souls, everything being made to bend to that aim. In
consequence, the feeding of the sheep, the maintaining
of a Scriptural discipline in the church, and the
inculcation of practical piety, was crowded out; and
only too often all sorts of worldly devices and fleshly
methods were employed under the plea that the end
justified the means; and thus the churches were filled
with unregenerate members. In reality, such men defeated
their own aim. The hard heart must be ploughed and
harrowed before it can be receptive to the gospel seed.
Doctrinal instruction must be given on the character of
God, the requirements of his Law, the nature and
heinousness of sin, if a foundation is to be laid for
true evangelism. It is useless to preach Christ unto
souls until they see and feel their desperate need of
Him.
